| 604 pilot his boat till spring and then he will pilot his family to the west."
When God works who can hinder? I am deur [dear] sir your fellow laborer in the gospel. ERASTUS SNOW.
Br. Robinson Esq.
The following is a copy of a private letter, and thinking that it possibly might be interesting to some of the saints residing at a distance, I submit it to you, which is at your disposal for publication in the times and Seasons.
Your as ever,
B W.
Nauvoo, Nov. 12th 1841.
Br. Snow:
Your letter of the 19th of Oct. came to hand in due time, and I am much pleased with its contents, for surely I rejoice that you are prospered.-Although I am a great distance from you, yet my anxiety for the furtherance of the Salem Mission does not decrease, and I contemplate that before many weeks shall pass away to be with you, and make my feeble voice heard again in your hall and private places for preaching, in defence [defense] of the pnre [pure] principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You request me not to do as others have done and write you a short letter; but to dispense with my common mode of writing, and write a close fine hand, and to be sure and fill up the sheet, and give you all the particulars of the most interresting [interesting] affairs of Nauvoo. This I will endeavor to do; but shall not make any sure promises, for it is possible that my mind will become so absorbed with the subject, that I shall forget to write so close and fine as you request. So much by way of introduction.
On my way from Philadelphia, I stopped at Pittsburgh and found a few saints (eight in number); among them is Elder Wm. Small from Philadelphia. They all seemed to be firm in the faith, and have not shuned [shunned] to teach the principles of righteousness every opportunity offered them; in consequence of which several have become quite believing, and I presume will embrace the faith. After a tedious passage from Pittsburgh of one week, (the Ohio river being very low,) I arrived at Cincinnati, where I took passage for St. Louis, on board the steamer Nonpareil, in company with near 200 passengers, and among them were several families of brethren bound for this place. Part of them hailed from the city of New York, the remainder from Western New York. The passengers soon learned there was a company of Mormons on board, and the news in quick succession flew from one end of the boat to the other that a Mormon preacher was among them and you will readily conjecture that Mormonism so called soon became the principle topic of conversation in almost every apartment of the boat. It was truly amusing to see the commotion and excitemnnt [excitement] that prevailed, and to hear their conversation.-The more they conversed upon the subject the more intense seemed to be their desire. Thus they continued for several days.
Sunday the 24th of Oct. the morning was clear, yet the air was somewhat cold. The darkness of night was driven away and twilight came on; but it soon followed in the train as the rays of the great ruler of the day shot acrost [across] the horizon. The steamer was facing the daring current of the far famed Mississippi. The atmosphere was clear, and the reports of the steam from the scape [escape] pipe, which were loud and followed one another in quick succession, alone seemed to disturb the solitude of the morning; the passengers arose from the slumber of night, prepared themselves for the day, and commenced prominading [promenading] the hurricane deck to view the attracting objects situated along the distant shores; but these seemed to be of minor consequence-the subject of "Mormonism' still lingered upon their minds. After the business and bustle of the morning were over, the passengers retired to the cabin and unanimously insisted upon having a Mormon sermon preached unto them.-By the ready permission of the captain, I complied with their request, and proclaimed the first principles of the gospel to an attentive audience. In the evening I addressed them with the subject of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. I believe that the effect produced will result in much good; for there were present men from various parts of the United States: and even those most opposed acknowledged that their views were changed, and that they now had a better opinion of the society, than they had before. Those that I left on the boat after we landed at St. Louis still
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